Telephone-locking device



Dec. 9, 1924- F. C. OWEN TELEPHONE LOCKING DEVICE Filed Feb. 29, 1924lid/1 1M07 17677262/1610 6. Oman Patented Dec. 9, 1924.

UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TELEPHONE-LOCKING DEVICE.

Application filed February 29, 1924. Serial No. 695,890.

To all whom it may concern Be 115 known that I, FERNANDO C. OWEN,

I a citizen of the United States, and resident of Chicago, Cook County,Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inTelephone-Locking Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to looks for locking telephone instruments toprevent use there of.

Generally stated, the object of the invention is to provide a simple andinexpensive form of lock which can be attached to an ordinary desktelephone to prevent unauthorized persons from using the telephone.

More specifically considered the object of the invention is to provide alocking means which can be applied to the telephone, of any suitablecharacter, to lock the receiver hook in normal position, so that thehook cannot be raised to permit use of the telephone.

It is also an object to provide certain details and features ofconstruction and combinations tending to increase the general efficiencyand the desirability of a telephone lock of this particular character.

To these and other useful ends the invention consists in mattershereinafter set forth and claimed and shown in the accompanying drawingsin which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an ordinary desk telephoneprovided with a lock embodying the principles of the invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing the means forlocking the receiver hook in normal or depressed position.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the said locking device.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the hasp of the locking device, which latterhas the general form of a padlock.

As thus illustrated, the invention is shown in connection with anordinary desk telephone having a standard 1 mounted on a base 2 andhaving the transmitter 3 mounted at the upper end of said standard inthe usual manner. The receiver hook 4 is pivoted within the standard, inthe usual manner, and works up and down in the slot 5 formed in the sideof the upper portion of the standard, just below the lateral overhang 6formed on the upper end of the standard just below the transmittermounting. The receiver 7 is of the ordinary form and normally rests onthe receiver hook 4 in the usual manner.

The telephone being of the character shown and described, or of thisgeneral class, the locking means which is shown and described asillustrative of the invention has the form of a padlock having a body 8in which the locking mechanism is enclosed and which is provided with astaple shaped hasp 9 having notches 10 to engage the locking mechanismwithin the body, thereby to hold the hasp locked to the body. Thepadlock has a key 11 which can be inserted in the end of the body tooperate the locking mechanisrn to lock and unlock the hasp. The

other end of the body is curved at 12 to engage the side of the standard1, and has an offset 13 to engage the overhang 6 previously mentioned,so that the padlock device will tightly fit the telephone standard whenthe hasp is in locked position. The curved outer end portion of the haspis .pro vided with a wedge 14 for insertion in the slot 5 immediatelyabove the hook 4, against the upper edge of said slot, so that the hookis locked and held in its normal or depressed position. To release thehook, the key 11 is inserted and operated to unlock the hasp, so thatthe latter may be with drawn from the body of the padlock, and so thatthe wedge 14 may then be withdrawn from its operative position, thusallowing the hook 4 to rise when the receiver 7 is removed therefrom. Itwill be understood that the locking mechanism within the body 8 may beof any suitable or known character, for there are various kinds ofcommon orordinary padlock devices which will serve the purpose. is notrequired to have the curve 12, and for the particular purpose shown anddescribed the body of the padlock must be made long enough to not onlyaccommodate the locking mechanism therein, but also to provide a bodylong enough to have this curve 12 formed therein in a manner that willnot interfere with the mechanism within the body.

Of course, the desk telephone shown and described is of. a common form,and desk telephones are sometimes designed in diiferent ways, and are ofdifferent shapes and Of course, an ordinary padlock .with the telephonehook.

sizes, to some extent, and it is obvious that the padlock device canhave any suitable form or shape necessary to enable it to snugly lit thetelephone instrument to lock the hook in normal position.

In the form of the invention shown and described, the overhang 6 extendsover the hasp s to prevent upward displa ement of the padlock or lockingdevice. Also, as shown and described, the means for engaging thereceiver hook to prevent upward moven'ient thereof is in the form of aprojection on the has 9 of the padlock, but any suitable means can beemployed for this purpose.

Furthermore, the invention contemplates the use of a simple lockingdevice for locking a telephone receiver hook in depressed condition, ona telephone instrument of any suitable or desired character, thereby toprevent unauthorized persons from using the telephone. The invention,therefm'e, is not limited to the particular construction shown anddescribed.

Referring to Figs. 2, 3 and a, which are on the same scale, it will beseen that the distance between the two side portions of the hasp 9 issubstantially the same as the diameter of the standard or upright 1 ofthe telephone instrument. Consequently the curve 12 fits one side of thestandard 1, and the curvature of the hasp 9 fits the other side, so thatthe hasp iits snugly below the shoulder 43 of the telephone instrument.However, inasmuch as the hasp is entirely removable from the body orcasing 8 of the padlock, the said hasp is detachable from the telephoneinstrument by horizontal move ment directly from under the shoulder 6,for this will withdraw the tapered tongue or irojection 14: from thesiot 5 of the telephone instrument, and from engagement In other words,the hasp or locking device 9 and its body portion 8 are detachable fromthe telephone instrument by horizontal movement only, and no upwardmovement of the locking dc vice is necessary in order to disengage itfrom the hook t of the telephone instrument. The locking device fits sosnugly below the shoulder 6, around the standard 1, that no movement ofthe locking device is possible, and when it is locked by forcing thehasp 9 into the body 8 the tapered portion 15 is wedged .more firmly andtightly into position to hold the hook at absolutely against anymovement whatsoever. The portion lei is the particular portion whichengages the telephone hook 4 and horizontal movement of the hasp issuflicient to disengage the locking device from under the shoulder 6 andfrom the telephone hook, so that the telephone may then be used. Thebody of the padlock is offset at 13 to snugly engage under the shoulder6, and the top surface of the hasp is flush and the bottom surfacethereof is also flush, for there is nothing that extends downwardly fromthe hasp and nothing that extends upwardly therefrom, all parts of thehasp being in the horizontal plane of the side portions thereof.Consequently, as stated, the hasp must slide horizontally from under theshoulder 6, and the body 8 must slide horizontally from under thisshoulder, in unlocking the padlock to permit use of the telephone.l/Vith the padlock fitting the standard 1 snugly, just below theshoulder '6, it is obvious that the portion it might be omitted, for thehasp t) could not be crowded upwardly by any attempt to raise the hook4, inasmuch as the hasp is held rigidly against upward movement by theshoulder 6 of the telephone instrument.

The inside curve of the hasp 9 preferably fits the outer cylindricalsurface of the standard 1, and thus the two separable members (the body8 and the hasp 9) of the device are rigidly united with each other, andwith the telephone instrument. The device is removable, however, byseparation of the two members in a horizontal plane above the telephonereceiver, from opposite sides of the instrument, and this all tends tofacilitate the locking and unlocking of the telephone hook d, by meansof a locking device which is rigid and which cannot rattle around whenthe telephone is locked. Thus, with the hasp entirely separable from thecasing or body of the padlock, it will be seen that the said casing orbody can be of any desired thickness or size, for no matter how large itmay be it cannot interfere with the removal of the device from theinstrument, or with the application of the device to the instrument. Thecasing or body is simply pulled ofi from the hasp, when it is desired tounlock the telephone, and the hasp alone is then easily removedhorizontally from the other side of the instrument.

"What I claim as my invention is l. A telephone locking devicecomprising two separable members adapted to be rigidly united to assumea fixed position on the telephone instrument, so that both members willbe rigid with the instrument, one memher having means to engage and holdthe telephone receiver hook in normal position, and said device beingfitted to the instrument and thereby necessarily removable by horizontalmovement of saidmembers in op posite directions from engagement withsaid hook and from opposite sides of the telephone instrument.

2. A structure as specified in claim 1, said lock being in the form of apadlock having a hasp between which and the body of the padlock space isformed to accommodate the standard of a desk telephone instrument, thehasp being of a Width to snugly fit the standard, and said means forengaging the receiver hook being a projection on the hasp for insertionin said standard.

3. A structure as specified in claim 1, said locking device being in theform of a padlock having a separable hasp, and the means for engagingthe receiver hook being a Wedge shaped portion of said hasp.

4:. A structure as specified in claim 1, said locking device comprisinga padlock having a body portion curved to engage one side of thestandard of a desk telephone and having a hasp disposed 1n :1 planeabove the telephone receiver and curved to engage the other side of saidstandard. said standard 15 having means overhanging said hasp and bodyto prevent upward displacement of the padlock said body portion beingrecessed to receive said overhanging means,

and said means or engaging the telephone 20 hook being a portion of saidhasp.

FERNANDO C. OWEN.

